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North Farmington grapplers earn spot in state finals

For North Farmington seniors Majd Mokbel and Kevin Miller, it’s been a dream to wrestle in the state finals.

On March 1 at The Palace of Auburn Hills, the duo will make it a reality.

“It’s every wrestler’s dream to extend the season as long as you can,” Mokbel said. “It’s really been special.”

Both grapplers were a match away from qualifying last season, making this season’s appearance that much sweeter.

Coach Tom Seremet said he was happy to see them make it and the hard work pay off.

“They’re lunch-pail kids; they go to work, nothing fancy. They’re pretty much meat-and-potato wrestlers,” he said. “They work for takedowns, the turn and look for a pinfall. It’s real basic stuff. We’re not flashy.”

Mokbel is 36-12 overall and qualified for the event at heavyweight.

“I have to have no fear,” he said. “I need to be aggressive and wrestle like the person I know I can.”

Miller is 43-4 overall and wrestles 189.

He said he’s seen most of the other wrestlers in his class and has even beaten some of them, but he can’t take anything for granted.

“I need to just go in there and take it one match at a time,” he said. “Just keep my head on straight. I know I can do it.”

Seremet added that the key to doing well is to stay focused on the task at hand.

“The biggest thing is just get them acclimated to the surroundings, and as opposed to two mats in a high school gym, there’s 12 on the floor of The Palace,” Seremet said. “All that matters is the same thing that matters every other time, which is the one kid in front of you on your mat, and that’s it.

“You’ve got 16 kids that are the best in the state at every weight. If they win matches at The Palace, that’s great. Just getting there is a huge accomplishment.”

In other local wrestling news:
Farmington High is also sending a representitive to the state finals.

Immanual Govantes is 32-12 overall and qualified at 125 pounds in D-1.

About the author

Sports writer Christian Davis covers mainly the Oakland County coverage area. Christian has worked for C & G Newspapers since 2005 and attended Michigan State University before graduating from Oakland University.